The CBd
 
 
Magical pendant: Harpocrates sitting on lotus with deities (A) voces, characteres (B)
CBd-Number:
CBd-522
ID-Number:
GB-BM-MMEu_G 504, EA 56504
Collection:
GB_London, The British Museum
Inventory:
G 504 (EA 56504)
References:
Michel, BM, no. 122; Michel, DMG, no. 19.1.g_2
Former Collections:
Chester, Greville John (1830–1892)
Material:
siltstone
Dimensions:
26 x 23 x 3 mm
Dating:
3rd c. AD (Michel)
Iconography:
gesture, greeting; hieroglyph, sa; Isis; throne; clothing: garment; crown, Isis-; scarab; Osiris; Anubis; wig; weapon: spear?; crown, hemhem; clothing: kilt; Harpocrates seated with one leg bent in knee; Harpocrates sitting on lotus flower; solar disk; rays; star; moon, crescent; snake; animal: crocodile; side-lock of youth; Thoth; headband?
Divine Names & Voces:
voces, unidentified; Ἰάω, variants

A: In the middle of the pendant Harpocrates sitting in frontal view on a lotus with the left leg bent in knee. The lotus flower stands on a small baseline; a bearded snake is coiling around the lotus stalk, its mouth open. Harpocrates’ both arms are raised in greeting. A long side-lock of youth is falling to his neck; he is wearing a headband in his hair. Five rays around his head and the solar disk on the top of the head.
Around Harpocrates: other Egyptian deities and animals. In the upper left corner of the pendant: the jackal-headed Anubis standing to right, wearing a wig on his head. He is holding the hieroglyph 'sa' in his right hand and touching Harpocrates’ outstreched right hand with his left. Next to his head an eight-pointed star. In the lower left corner: the mummy of Osiris standing to right with the hemhem crown on his head. On the right side of Osiris a scarab, under the baseline of the lotus a crocodile. In the lower right corner: Isis sitting to left on a throne. The goddess is wearing a long garment and an Isis-crown, she is holding a spear (?) in her right hand. Above Isis, in the upper right corner: the ibis-headed Thoth standing to left. The god is wearing the hemhem crown and a kilt; he is holding the hieroglyph 'sa' in his left hand and touching Harpocrates’ outstreched left hand with his own right. On the left side of his head a crescent.
Around the figures the fragments of an inscription. On the left side of the pendant: δ χ ψ? On the right side of the pendant a vertical inscription beginning at the top: αιω → vocales (variant of Ἰάω).
B: Inscription (in two lines) and characteres (in three lines): μφσυβηαβεμζ → unidentified vox. 

A praxis known from a papyrus (PGM LXI 1-38) specifies that love charms had to be incised with the image of Horus on a lotus flower and the magical name Abraxas. Pieces with the Horus-scheme used as love charms: CBd-533, CBd-534.

Bibliography
Michel, BM on CBd-522
The British Museum Collection database on CBd-522

Last modified: 2020-12-29 21:11:02
Link:cbd.mfab.hu/cbd/522
CITE THIS PAGE
CBd-522. The Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database (2010-), developed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, editor-in-chief: Á. M. Nagy. Retrieved from: cbd.mfab.hu/cbd/522 on 07-09-2024.

Image-ID 6916

Credits Photo: Christopher A. Faraone

Rights © Trustees of the British Museum

Image-ID 6917

Credits Photo: Christopher A. Faraone

Rights © Trustees of the British Museum

Image-ID 6918

Credits Photo: Christopher A. Faraone

Rights © Trustees of the British Museum

Image-ID 6919

Credits Photo: Christopher A. Faraone

Rights © Trustees of the British Museum

Image-ID 2519

Credits From Michel, BM

Rights © Trustees of the British Museum

Image-ID 1759

Rights © Trustees of the British Museum

Image-ID 588

Credits From Michel, BM

Rights © Trustees of the British Museum

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